He managed a smile, but the energy was out of him. He appealed to the life of this country, but this was a wake—his audience teary-eyed and bleary-eyed and silent and stunned.

He made a gallant show of appealing to tomorrow, but his political foray surely ends here tonight. And if this was not the last night of the Liberal Party of Canada, it was at least the last night of the Liberal Party of Canada as it has believed itself to be.

This was—or at least felt like—the end of a lot of things and so it is difficult to know where to begin.

***

This was the last night for Gilles Duceppe and the last night for the Bloc Québécois. This was the last night for the old idea of the NDP. This was the last night for four cabinet ministers and Helena Guergis and many of those—Mark Holland, Navdeep Bains, Gerard Kennedy, Martha Hall Findlay, Bonnie Crombie—who were supposed to be the Liberal party’s future. This was the last night for pretending that Elizabeth May would soon enough go away. This was the last night for minority government (at least until the next election). This was the last night for Parliament (at least in a certain symbolic sense valued only by strict purists). This was the last night (at least in a certain figurative sense) for all those who equated a majority government for Stephen Harper with the end of the world.

But let us start with Michael Ignatieff, for so much of this seemed—rightly or wrongly, justly or unjustly—to depend on him. And while others will remain, they will do almost certainly without him.

In the end, he was both better and worse than he was supposed to be; neither the philosopher king his proponents dreamed he was, nor the insufferable and presumptuous twit his detractors made him out to be. He was, these past five weeks, a minor revelation: a barnstorming preacher by turns, a rollicking throwback on the stump.

He was, at his best and worst, forever searching. He is a curious man who has spent his life indulging that curiosity. And here was his greatest adventure. But whatever he learned, what he discovered about himself and his country, he did not find whatever it was that we wanted to hear. However much he talked, whatever he said, he could not find the words. That night in Sudbury he begged the country to rise up. And maybe it did. But not for him.

Maybe he never had a chance. Maybe those ads and this party and those expectations doomed him from the start. (Maybe it wasn’t Stéphane Dion’s fault after all.) Maybe this was nothing more than bad timing. But if he had only this one chance—however fleeting, however slight—surely it is now passed.

It will all make a fine and instructive book someday.

***

If the last few weeks in the political life of Jack Layton did not seem real, here is an objective measure that is indisputable and certified. Before summer arrives, Mr. Layton will have taken up residence in Stornoway. Whenever Parliament resumes, it will be Mr. Layton who Stephen Harper sees when he looks directly across the aisle.

Between them will remain the central tension of these last five weeks—the lingering concern of these last five years and perhaps the theme of the next four.

Five weeks ago, Mr. Harper’s government became the first in the history of this country to be found in contempt of the House of Commons. Five weeks later, 40% eligible voters have elected to return it to office with an even stronger mandate.

Five weeks ago, the NDP was little more than a quaint group of plucky Parliamentarians, almost precious in their preoccupation with legislation and policy and debate. Five weeks later, 30% of eligible voters have dispatched them to “fix Ottawa” with an even stronger mandate.

In their approaches to Parliament, both saw their respective paths to power and both now have power. For Mr. Harper, there is no longer anyone to blame. The levers of power are now almost entirely his. For Mr. Layton, there is no longer anyone between him and the government side. The platform and the responsibility of official opposition are now his.

It will be a new Parliament and a new House with a new Speaker, but it will confront the same questions and the same concerns and the same fears. Between Mr. Harper and Mr. Layton there will be answers of some kind or another. If what we are to understand in this regard from these last five weeks is decidedly unclear, let us let them settle it.

***

It is 1:57am in the grande ballroom in the basement of the Sheraton in downtown Toronto. The television platforms are being taken apart. The tables are being packed up and the cables wound. The signs bearing Mr. Ignatieff’s stylized visage are now kitsch. The 41st general election is now history. The flags still stand at attention and the lights are still on, but the show is over, the night is done and the day is through.

This was the last night for so much and so much is now passed. It was and is bewildering and humbling and wonderful. But good night to all that and good morning to whatever now shall be. To each their own lessons.

Agree. The Democrats in the U.S. suffered a stunning loss in 2004, yet came back strong in 2008. Life is like that. Sometimes the wave carries you in, sometimes it tosses you around and throws you out.

After Iggy loses his own seat and brings on the worst election results for the Libs in history, he announces that he plans to stay on as leader! Is there any other proof needed that this guy just doesn't get it?

Scott Reid's take on it, in the CBC chat, was that Ignatieff was doing the Liberals a favour by not just running off. It is obvious he can't stay on until the next election, but perhaps tonight isn't the moment to force the leadership question. There's enough for Liberals to do already, no?

Edit: I'm seeing on Twitter that Ignatieff will announce his resignation tomorrow.

What'll be more interesting is to see who even decides to run, given the huge task ahead. Also, to my thinking, anyone in the Liberal party advocating a merger with the NDP is delusional; the NDP has no incentive to accept and cede any control when they could just gradually move to the center and eat up the Liberal vote all on their own.

Iccyh on May 3, 2011 at 3:06 am

A friend of mine reminded me that Frank McKenna exists, which set my antennae a-wigglin'.

Halo_Override on May 3, 2011 at 3:09 am

Why would he want to run now, after passing when the party was in so much better shape electorally?

The traditional appeal to the position of Liberal leader is that you get to be PM, and that's gone. In its place is 4 years leading a party that has fewer seats now than the NDP had last Parliament, where there is a strong possibility that rebuilding will take decades, if it ever even succeeds given that both the NDP and Conservatives will do all they can to drive the Liberals into the ground and claim those voters.

Iccyh on May 3, 2011 at 3:15 am

I think after Dion the LPC wanted someone they thought would have some glamor, and that didn't work out very well because their choice was thin on other fronts. McKenna's got electoral experience, business cred, and a bunch of other things that are going to look pretty good when the next internal ballot comes around.

Plus whoever takes the job will have room for the kind of longer-game incremental growth that Layton and Harper both benefited from. (Which is a comfort buffer that Ignatieff didn't have, when the question was "will we lose even more of what we've managed to hang onto since our last loss?")

For someone with the right kind of ambition that could present an interesting challenge. Yes, it might take decades, but given the volatility we've seen lately it's just as easy to guess that it might not…

All that being said, I have no idea how bilingual he is.

Halo_Override on May 3, 2011 at 4:29 am

He's like Bernard Lord but with a different tie!

Mike T. on May 3, 2011 at 3:16 am

Was it McKenna who has previously stated that he has no interest in getting back into politics? Am I thinking of another profile Liberal whose name has been thrown around in the past? I can't think, late night.

seventyone on May 3, 2011 at 4:41 am

thumb me down if you like but i'm positive Mckenna is not interested. Not that I wouldn't want him running.

seventyone on May 3, 2011 at 5:42 am

I am thinking of John Manley, however I have no idea what his inclination would be to running.

seventyone on May 3, 2011 at 5:50 am

The short ass mckenna again eh? Another that too scared to run again. Claudette Bradshaw told him to BEAT IT! The biggest joke that New Brunswick ever had. All spin!

Guest on May 3, 2011 at 9:29 am

I would like to see Coderre make a run for the leadership

seventyone on May 3, 2011 at 4:37 am

any particular reason for the thumbs down on the above?

seventyone on May 3, 2011 at 5:34 am

Probably Coderre's federal unelectability. I hear good things about him, but I can't see him competing well on the national stage. (Of course, that used to be the same wisdom about Harper, so who knows? But I do have trouble seeing him as the candidate to rebuild the Liberal brand.)

Halo_Override on May 3, 2011 at 11:04 am

Well, it's either Iggy, or its Bob (aka Mr. Waffle) Rae ?
yep, I'd sooner want Justin Trudeau as the new young leader of this now decimated Liberal party, than a Bob Rae.

Is Rae going to push for a merger? If he is, then i want him gone. He's a fine man and a good politician, but if he can't commit to rebuilding the party he should slide on over to the dippers side of the aisle.[ i suppose they wont want him?]__That or even cross the foor[ never! the conbots yell] and give Canada some useful service as the only decent FM this govt is ever likely to see.[ i suppose an ambassodor thingy would be more realistic?] As a liberal i just want to be sure he's inside the tent pissing out, not in.

Ummmm, perhaps I'm not a very good ConBot, but I don't think the Cons will care much how many Liberals cross over to the NDP.

And my own two cents on all this musing about the Libs merging with the NDP: it's hilarious. And only more proof of how entitled the Lib and their supporters feel. Even now, they feel entitled to just throw out the possibility of merging with the NDP, after the NDP historic victory, almost TRIPLING their HoC seat count. You don't just snap your fingers and merge. Right now, any merged party will be at the discretion and direction of Jack Layton, not Bob Rae.

You might be stuck with him for awhile. John Turner got similarly obliterated in 1984 – 40 seats – and stayed on until 1990. He lost a second election in 1988 and STILL stayed on for another two years. Mind you, that was then. People don't have that kind of patience anymore.

Without exception every defeated candidate I heard spoke with respect for "the people have spoken"…I'm reading between the lines here, but I think you've just written that the people have mis-spoken….hope I'm just tired too.

"This was the last night for … many of those—Mark Holland, Navdeep Bains, Gerard Kennedy, Martha Hall Findlay, Bonnie Crombie, Marc Garneau—who were supposed to be the Liberal party's future."

How true. The Liberals have not just been decimated. They have been decapitated. As well as the names mentioned above, consider this: there were eight candidates on the ballot for the Liberal leadership race in 2006. All were candidates in this election. Only three were elected: Scott Brison, Stephane Dion, and Bob Rae. And both Dion and Rae will be eligible for CPP by the next election.

I thought you were crazily optimistic when predicting Iggy would lose. I was not up on scuttlebutt about how bad it was for Libs, or the BQ for that matter. What a wonderful night, Libs and BQ on their knees, grasping for air.

Frank Graves is the one who recommended that the Liberals launch a "culture war against western red necks" as an election strategy a few years back. And why not? It worked for the Liberals in years past. But that was back when there was right wing vote splitting. Now the other side is wearing the split, and I must say, it looks good on them. Wonder how Graves feels about those red necks this morning.

Yep. Graves had the Conservatives pegged at 34/35 throughout the entire campaign. When they claim to be accurate within 3 points 19 times out of 20, that tells you something: He was not asking the right questions, he was not choosing a random sample, or something like that.

Take Frank Greaves Ekos poll add Vote Compass Poll and add their bias and dumb reporting into the mix, no wonder CBC has been dumbing way down. Liberals and CBC should get rid of those many bu*t lickers around.

You're all pretty simple. When he recommends strategies it isn't because he personally likes them, it's because polling numbers tell him they make work. Do you think when a reporter writes a story about something you don't like that they must like it? ha, probably.

asdf on May 3, 2011 at 1:14 pm

I'm not conservative by nature, so I state up front my built-in bias, but although I was cautiously optimistic about Harper after his first minority win, I feel very apprehensive about him having a majority. Consequently, I feel pretty pleased to be a Quebecer tonight, because even though my riding stayed Red, I feel like Quebec set aside some important and consequential issues, and some nationalist pride, to fight collectively against that majority. In my view, whether intentionally or not, Quebec protected Canada today.

If nothing else, the NDP sweep in QC has made the 75 seats in this province available for the taking in the next election instead of the 25-35 left after the Bloc had taken their share. I too am apprehensive of the Harper majority, but time will tell.

Conversely, in killing off the Bloc (maybe) and mortally wounding the LPC (maybe), Quebec elected a bunch of placeholder NDP candidates to be a bunch of placeholder MPs. When many of these Quebec MPs amount to nothing, what's the choice the next election: the Tories? A Parti vert landslide?

One of the comments last night was that the BQ started losing the moment they started talking about bringing up sovereignty again. Perhaps, just perhaps, the previous BQ votes were a vote for a Quebec voice, and not a free Quebec.

actually Quebec ensured a Harper majority by raising the prospect of a prime minister Jack Layton, therby forcing centerist liberals to vote conservative. Thank you Jack for ridding us of the bloc, congradulations Mr. Harper on your majority, I'm glad I won't be heading to the polls again for another 4 years.

Wow, how am I not surprised that you live in a riding that stayed Liberal… the conceit drips from your post. God Bless Quebec! They are saving the RoC from themselves!

I find it ludicrous that a lot of Quebecers thought it was rational to vote for a bunch of candidates who just fell off the turnip truck – anglophones representing francophone ridings, candidates who admittedly didn't even VISIT the riding they were candidates in, candidates who went to Vegas rather than campaign, students who are now entitled to a $138k a year job… glorious day for democracy that is.

We moan and complain about democracy in our country under the Cons, and then first chance Quebecers get, they piss all over the idea of electing responsible representatives for their local riding, and jump on the bandwagon. How intelligent.

I will be surprised if the NDP hold onto even a third of those seats next election. Guaranteed, the CPC is convening a strategy meeting today for the 2015 election and when it comes to the NDP the strategy is simple – demonstrate that all these new MPs are amateurs, unrepresentative of their ridings and will never deliver the goods.

Kind of like how every party's faithful boo the other teams? Or how the CPC rallies drown out the media with boos when they ask questions? That's a pretty odd thing to be sensitive about on the night of a majority win.

Christmas indeed. You could not wipe the smile off this chimp's face last night. Nor this morning. I'm sure Harper, like all politicians, will disappoint me greatly. He already has. It can't be helped. That's politicians for you. Always disappointing those who believed in them. But for now, my grin is a mile wide. I've waited 25 years for this at least. All the giddiness amongst progressives over the past weekend as Layton continued to strengthen in the polls had me down. No longer.

It's like Christmas and my B-day all rolled into one. Osama as fish-food and my most hated political enemies, the Bloc, reduced to virtually nothing in the space of 24 hours. I couldn't have imagined how good of a week this would be.

Yup. And a big hearty thankyou to Jack for doing what no other federalist could do – vanquishing the Bloc. Mind you, he did it by promising to behave like a hard core nationalist (enforcing Quebec's language laws in federally regulated industries, re-opening the constitution) but at least he did it. Mulroney tried to fit sovereignists into his unwieldy coalition back in the 1980s. It worked – for a time. I have a feeling Jack really has no clue what a keg of dynamite he's sitting on. But good on him nonetheless.

I'll admit I was not happy with Jack after the french debate, but his strategy worked better then even he could have imagined. If that is what it took to collapse the Bloc like that, then he could promise Quebec the moon for all I care. It's not like he was going to be able to open constitutional talks anyway, even if by some miracle he had ended up as PM.

You're right about Jacks future problems there too. Now he has to find a way to deliver things for Quebec, and I don't see how he's going to do that.

Stephen Harper has realized his life's dream – an absolute, unfettered majority, with virtually no checks or balances on his unlimited power. We can only hope that he uses it wisely, though his track record is far from good.

This is, unquestionably, not the Canada I grew up in – and it will be even less so four years from now.

Wonder what weapon they'll use to try to dislodge Harper the next time. It seems he's just not into losing, even when the media is giddy over some other largely imaginary political force. Granted, Jack Layton kicked some serious butt last night, but that was nearly entirely at the expense of the Liberals and the Bloc.

I wonder how the editors of the Toronto Star feel this morning. :) Their decision to run with that "leaked" story last week in which a senior Conservative Party official admitted "we're nowhere close in Ontario" seems like a bit of a suckers' play now. By waving the white flag in the official anti-Harper newspaper, the Tories may have ensured thousands of voters stayed home, comfortable in the knowledge that Harper had no chance of a majority. I would have LOVED to have been a fly on the wall in the TorStar editors' offices last night. A gloating fly.

It IS a brand new day, and as usual I have high hopes for this new government. I am especially pleased by some of the newer Conservative MPs- Oliver, Leitch, Trottier, and Adler- they seem like very smart people with legitimate resumes. I can only hope and pray that the really dim bulbs like Clement, Flaherty, and Goodyear are pushed to the side and roles greatly reduced. Very happy to see Gary Lunn tossed to the side- ugh- what a dull knife he was.

Major concerns- banking regulation- had these Conservatives been in power in the 1990's we would have had at least 2 major banks collapse. There's also a nasty authoritarian streak in many of these Conservatives- Fantino tops the list there to be sure.

The first day of a stable four year mandate and you people still can't stop talking about the 'game.' I guess we have to wait another four years to see if we can get someone who is actually interested in governing the country?

You don't get it. Politics is a game. 'chet' is a CPC creation. Harper kept his team on lockdown forever just to launch a campaign by lying through his teeth, knowing that Canadians are dumb — and his opponents were even more dumb.

Harper didn't destroy the liberals — he gave them enough rope to hang themselves.

I voted Liberal for years and years and years. But they lost me when they went stupid on the gun registry. I want gun control, but I can’t stand the sneering attitude Liberals have towards people like me who are hunters. Hunting is an honourable vocation, just like farming. There are millions of people who are fine, upstanding law-abiding citizens who hunt. But the vast majority of us hunters now despise Liberals, and won’t ever consider voting for them again. I really, really liked the outcome of the election last night. Liberals – good riddance.

There are millions of fine, upstanding law-abiding citizens who drive cars – and register them.
Be a fine upstanding citizen and – out of respect for the safety of the lives of men, women, children and law enforcement officers across the country – support the registry.
It has nothing to do with liberals. It has nothing to do with hunting. It has to do with criminals with weapons.

It is a Liberal thing – the sneering and out and out dislike Liberals have for those of us with guns. Liberals ultimate goal is to disarm citizens. The registry does not save lives and will soon be dismantled by the Conservatives. Get over it.

It’s a great day. The sun is shining, the birds are singing and the Liberals are toast. Life is good.

Mr Wherry, a reasonably informative column. But you had to get the knife into Mr Harper who I do not remember blaming anyone, ever – and heaven knows he had lots of reasons for doing so. So grow up and learn the positive things that can flow from generosity. Perhaps you should change your employer as uberliberal McLeans may not be the happiest place to work for the next while. Try Sunmedia or Mark Steyn or…..

What a pathetic article written by small minds that believe socialism is the way. The headline says it all. Squirm lefties, squirm. I've been saying for days the demented readership of this rag have a perverted view of Canada as those who reject your love of socialism are too busy at work paying the taxes so youl parasites can whine on here. Scarey huh. Now you might have to actually earn your own living. I just hope and pray Harper doesn't pull a Mulroney..

Blame anyone for what? Harper is an excellent manager and the economy has been his main preoccupation. The liberal media seem to take the economy fir granted, something which will always be there and something they can kick around whenever they feel the need to express a little 60"s style cultural Marxism.

There's a slight problem here, Aaron, either of math or of definition. 40% of eligible voters didn't vote for the Cons, and 30% didn't vote for the NDP, as we once again experienced horrible turnout at the polls. Only ~24% of those eligible voted for this majority government, and only ~18% voted for the official opposition.

If we had true PR, 40% of the seats in the House of Commons would (should?) sit empty.

and what difference would that make? unless you need over 60% for quorum? then you just get an ungovernable mess where a rump can shut down any election simply by abstaining, like they did in Serbia in the last decade.

Conservatives seemed overly obsessed with the political game and how they can 'destroy' their opponents. I would hope getting a majority and not having to worry about elections or confidence votes would place that on the back-burner for a few years, and that they could now focus on governing the country and tackling public policy problems. If the comments here are indicative of the Conservative attitude I was sadly mistaken.

I have some advice: Focus on making Canada better, and if you need to use your 'ruthless politics' skills, use them to defeat the PQ in the next Quebec election.

John D – if you are new to this blog you can be forgiven for thinking that only the right-leaning bloggers make rude comments. Should you continue to sign in, you will find the left-leaning bloggers treating the "cons" with ill-disguised contempt. It is the way of the "no-holds-barred" discourse on this site. It would be folly to suggest it is evidence of the true nature of the larger population of people who belong to any of the Canadian political parties.

What a pathetic attitude and head line. Eat crow Wherry! It looks good on you.

Harper's victory will be total when Jack has to answer some tough questions about a certain Bawdy House. It will be Harper, 3 leaders, two parties, leftards, 0 ! Two parties have been reduced to irrelevance, even extinction! The only one left standing will be Harper when all is said and done in the next three months! Total victory!

My last post at this pathetic rag of a magazine just to tell you all what a bunch of lying shills you are, who run this site. Won't be back. Electoral peace for 4.5 years at least! No more Liberal kangaroo courts and lying leftist media shills! Thank God!

He's ruining the country by:
- subverting the free access to information that is the basis of true democracy
—stonewalling parliamentary information requests
—subverting the census
—tampering with Freedom of Information requests
—firing civil servants who reveal information to which the public has a right
—refusing to respond to, or be available for, public or media questions
-poisoning political discourse
—year-round campaigning
—non-answers to Question Period questions
—spreading incorrect interpretations of the law on constitutional issues
-wasting public funds
—G20/G8 photo op
—fighter jets with no strategic planning or open bidding
—taxpayer-funded partisan advertising
-ignoring environmental issues

In other words, he's ruining the country because he's a politician and you don't like his policies? All of the above list seems to be categorized in one of the two, aren't they? This is what will ruin the country, is it? I recommend less meditation under the hot Vulcan suns, Spock!

The only party who is so blatantly nasty in taking their opponents out is the Liberal. They even use their House of Commons priveleges to attempt outing the governing party (Contempt of the House – a nasty coalition's engineering to force an election). This time the voters showed them what real contempt is.

As for the "main stream" media , their bias and nastiness are beyond compare, Fox news had shown more class and decorum than many of them . Sadder still, they can't even see the bad image they project.

I wonder what will happen now to that signed agreement of Liberal, NDP, and Bloc coalition which will yet expire in June of 2011, will it still be in effect?

Funny, you didn't whine about an absolute, unfettered majority all those years Trudeau and Chretien were hated in the west. Admittedly Mulroney turned out to be as big a scumbag as those two but I certainly hope Harper sticks to his conservative values. I for one like him controlling the loose cannons in his cabinet. I will be watching the next four years with more interest AND HOPE than I have had for years. Sooner or later somebody somewherre has to wake up to the fact government cannot spend more than it brings in. If that means some of the maggots have to get an honest job, so be it.

It seems the Bloc shared Quebecois sentiments in everything but separation.

It will be interesting to see how the particular liberal brand of the NDP will mesh with the particular liberal values of Quebec. In some areas they are very close. (social programs, unions etc.) In others, they are far apart. (multi-culturalism)

We are fortunate that the Conservatives were not in power at that time. We avoided Iraq. We avoided the banking debacle. But I am comfortable that the Conservatives have learned those lessons. I don't expect we'll see any massive banking dereg or any more Iraq – or even Afghanistans – for some time.

You know, I think I'm beginning to see what the main problem of the progressive forces in this country is. It's not vote splitting, though that's certainly an issue. It's the outright dismissal of 40% of the electorate as "stupid". I had one guy at work call me a member of the "stupid 40% of Canadians" to my face today. This is a guy who is normally quite friendly and reasonable. My response was: "I might well be just as stupid as you say, but it's a mistake to think that you're going to bring me around to your way of thinking by pointing out how stupid I am."

That would be true, except for a few facts. Most criminals are in urban areas. Most hunters are rural. Most criminals prefer handguns and sawed-offs. Hunters – by law – use only long guns. So forcing hunters to register their rifles and shotguns because urban criminals are killing people with handguns and sawed-offs is a bit like forcing farmers to register their cows because the city has a problem with stray cats. Targeting the wrong population in the wrong area for the wrong reasons.

It was brilliant for Harper in setting the election date to coincide with income tax return filing deadline. It had played a role with Harper's message getting through. I guess looking at the tax return, had been a great reminder to many people how politicians' promises and government spending could cost such a big ding in everyone's pocket book.

The papers all say that they are stable, despite a ~250 point drop yesterday. I want some of what the financial editors are smoking.

That said, one day does not make a trend. It will take a lot of financial deregulation and capital flight to cause disaster. That'll take a few years, if it happens. I'm going to be optimistic, for now, and hope that the ideologues will be held in check by pragmatism.

Notice: Your email may not yet have been verified. Please check your email, click the link to verify your address, and then submit your comment. If you can't find this email, access your profile editor to re-send the confirmation email. You must have a verified email to submit a comment. Once you have done so, check again.

Sign In / Sign Up

With your existing account from

With an email account

Commenters who signed up before June 26th, 2014 will have to reregister on our new, social-friendly login system. The good news? The process should only take a few minutes, and you're welcome to use the same email address.

Almost Done!

Please confirm the information below before signing up.

{* #socialRegistrationForm *}
{* socialRegistration_firstName *}
{* socialRegistration_lastName *}
{* socialRegistration_emailAddress *}
{* socialRegistration_displayName *}
By clicking "Create Account", I confirm that I have read and understood each of the website terms of service and privacy policy and that I agree to be bound by them.